Created for Care

 

 So I'm going here:

 

By myself. 

(Well, there will be about 400 other mama's.) 

For over 48 hours.

I can't wait.

Pray for my husband:-)

spring has sprung! {esty shop coupon code}

The fund raising show must go on and we have some pretty new pieces in our Etsy shop. 

Great for spring, Easter, Mother's Day... 

Pin one of our items, email me the link (or leave it in a comment), and I will send you a coupon code for FREE shipping.

Happy Spring!

 

 

 

 

 

three

 This month marks three years of officially being on the adoption road.

I wish I could write an insightful post on all the things I have learned these past few years, the scriptures I have clung to, the way God has used this time to draw me closer to Him but...

I'm pretty discouraged right now. I'm trying hard to hide it (why?) but last week I was eating Nutella out of the jar with a butter knife. 

For real. 

So, instead of faking insightful and wise and sweet, I thought I would post our adoption timeline. I read some blogger article recently about being positive as to not scare off your readers so, since I don't want to scare you away, I thought I'd join every other adoption blog out there and do the time line thing. 

Here it is, as best I can remember:

September 2005 – Decide to adopt during pre-marital counseling.

October 2005 – We get married:-)

June 2007 – Begin researching placement agencies. Decide to adopt from Ethiopia. Lindsy reads every adoption book ever written.

August 2007 – Pregnant with Moses! Adoption plans put on hold.

June 2008 – Moses is born!

October 2008 – Lindsy attends adoption seminar and we decide on a placement agency.

March 2009 – Officially apply to adopt from Ethiopia.

July 2009 – Home study complete.

August 2009 – Dossier complete.

August 2009 – Pregnant with Meadow! Adoption plans put on hold.

April 2010 – Meadow is born. Adoption journey begins again.

July 2010 – Home study updated.

July 2010 – Dossier #2 complete.

July 2010 – William is diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma. Adoption plans put on hold.

Second half of 2010 – Blur of surgeries and cancer treatments.

March 2011 – William is given a clean bill of health!

April 2011 – Meadow is diagnosed with calcifications on her basil ganglia (brain). We are unable to proceed with our home study update (required because of William's cancer) until a “diagnosis” is given by the pediatric neurologist.

August 2011 – Meadow is given a clean bill of health! Home study update #2 completed.

September 2011 – Dossier #3 mailed to Ethiopia.

October 19, 2011 – Ethiopia denies our case. (cancer)

October 26, 2011 – Switch to the Democratic Republic of Congo pilot adoption program.

November 2011 – Home study update #3 completed. Dossier #4 mailed to the DRC. Officially waiting for a referral for the first time in 2 ½ years!

November 18, 2011 – Matched with a 3 ½ year old little boy!

February 10, 2011 – The little boy we have been matched with was claimed by his uncle and sister. We are back on the referral list.

After three years, there are a lot of dates and details that I just don’t remember. We have been fingerprinted 3 times, received and then changed our CIS approval three times, completed 3 home study updates/amendments, 4 dossiers, been through 2 placement agencies, 2 home study agencies…

Now you understand the Nutella "incident".

There have been plenty of days in the past few years when I have not understood God's ways.

Today is one of those days.

But, I am choosing to have deliberate confidence in His character. Paul is so clear is Philippians when he says "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Until then, pass the butter knife.

right now... (Both Hands Project video)

(Below is the follow up letter sent to our Both Hands sponsors. It's for you too.)

Right now, as you read these words, there is a little boy in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Africa. This little boy has no living family who can afford to care for him. He lives in an orphanage with 125 other orphans.

There is no electricity.

No running water.

His one meal each day consists of boiled cassava root.

At night he goes to bed hungry on the hard concrete floor.

He does not go to school.

There is no one to teach him how to spell his name.

One out of every five of his friends will not live to see their fifth birthday. His country is one of the poorest in the world. There are an estimated 13 million children just like him in the DRC.

This little boy’s future is grim at best.

But there is hope.

There is you. And there is us.

Right now, as you read these words, we are in need of $11,467 to bring this little boy home.

To give him a family.

A full belly.

A bed.

To teach him to spell his name and give him our last name.

But we need your help.

Will you join us?

Please watch this video to see how we have taken James 1:27 to heart and cared for a widow on our journey to care for an orphan.

Both Hands - The Wallace Family from Jonathan Hughes on Vimeo.

If you have already supported us through prayer or giving thank you! You are now a part of the story we will share with our son.

If you feel led to make a tax-deductible donation to our adoption fund please do so here. It’s not too late to give!

tornadoes, Kony controvery and Both Hands

I wish I could write a witty, thought provoking, pull-at-your-heartstrings post in response to the tornadoes that hit our area last Friday and this weeks Kony controversy but, in addition to the fact that other people have already done that, I have been out of it.

Tomorrow is the cultivation of five months of hard work intent on using "one hand to serve a widow and one hand to care for an orphan". Mainly our orphan.

While it sounds a bit abstract, it's really not. The concept is the same as that of a charity 5k or golf scramble.Here's a more in depth explanation.

So, while these local and global events are certainly worthy of our thoughts, prayers and time, my thoughts, prayers and time have been consumed by this event. Why I want to be done fund raising reason #2: so that I can do something else. Anything else.


Reason #1 is probably obvious: we will be done fund raising. Which means we will be one step closer to bringing our little man home.

As of this afternoon, we are in need of $11,567. If you'd like to contribute, you can make a tax deductible donation here. Below is the letter that was sent to over 1,100 of our closest friends and family and the friends and family of our friends and family:-) It takes a village people.

adoption update

So the title of this post is a bit deceiving because there is actually not an update.

BUT, we need your prayers and I had to get your attention...

Here's the deal. We have been at the top of the referral list for 25 days. The first time around, we only held that spot for three days before getting our referral for G. Waiting 25 days has been uncomfortable at best and downright sucky at times. We are now pushing the time line for getting our little one home WAY too close to 2013 for me to even think about.

2013 people! There will be flying cars and space creatures walking the earth with us! And that will mean that it took us FOUR YEARS to complete one adoption! At that rate we will be really old by the time our family is complete. (God is laughing at me right now.)

But I digress. We REALLY want to receive a referral this week. Not just "because" but for an actual reason.

An online friend of mine is traveling to the orphanage in Goma where our little one lives. She is leaving the US on the 12th. (next Monday) If we get our referral this week she can take photos of our little man, spend time getting to know him and his personality, find out what language he speaks, tell us what size clothes/shoes he will wear, give him big hugs and kisses for us, etc.

Please join us in praying. The main things that stand in our way right now are the spotty internet and power outages in the DRC. There are children in Goma ready to be matched but the power and internet need to stay on long enough for the attorney in the Congo to send the children's info to the US. Please pray for God's power to shine on the DRC this week!

Thanks friends.

get your green on!

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day!!!

Click the "Shop" button above to order from our Etsy shop. 

All proceeds go toward bringing our boy home!

true green

lime green

green white striped

bright blue

multi

multi with better light:-)

baby blue